The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford sent another class of
students into the “real world” Sunday afternoon at the school’s
spring commencement ceremony.

Lt. Gov. and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati,
R-Brockway, was brought in to deliver an inspiring keynote speech
to the several hundred folks, including a school-record 286
graduates, packing the Sport & Fitness Center

“Those of you graduating with A’s or high honors, I commend you.
Those of you with a B average – you, too, can be lieutenant
governor,” Scarnati said to the crowd’s laughter.

In addition to the 286 students, 15 Zippo Manufacturing Co.
employees received two-year degrees in business on behalf of the
University of Pittsburgh at Titusville via a partnership between
the two schools and Zippo.

Scarnati educated all the attending graduates on keys to success
– working hard, being responsible and keeping a professional
attitude – that he learned while growing up in the family
restaurant business in Brockway. Those customers he served at the
restaurant were eventually the people who got him elected to
office, according to Scarnati.

“Someone is always watching you,” he said.

Scarnati also urged students to get involved in the community,
help other people and aim high with their goals.

“Every challenge depends on you and the choices you make,” he
said. “I challenge all of you to expand your capabilities.”

Shortly after that comment, Scarnati ended his speech, quipping
that he was keeping it short to relieve the numerous people waving
programs in their faces to beat the gymnasium heat on an
unseasonably warm, sunny day.

Also Sunday, Pitt-Bradford President Dr. Livingston Alexander
awarded the Presidential Medal of Distinction to Dr. William Conrad
and the Stackpole-Hall Foundation, where Conrad serves as executive
director. This award, Pitt-Bradford’s highest, went to Conrad and
the foundation for providing ,336,000 in grants during the last 18
years – money that improved education programs and classroom
technology at the school.

“We (at the foundation) feel a connection since almost the
beginning,” Conrad said. “I am deeply humbled.”

Finally, the anxious students got to walk across the stage to
the applause of family and friends.

Notable graduates included a husband-and-wife pair, Amber and
Michael Steck Jr.; and a mother-and-daughter duo, Sheryl and Erica
Wallace. Also, three graduates were commissioned as second
lieutenants for the U.S. Army: Matthew Gustin; Travis Michael and
Michael Dixon.

In closing, Alexander addressed the struggling economic world
the young adults would be stepping into in search of jobs.

“If you feel that your options are not there for the time being,
don’t give up,” he said. “Don’t get down on yourself.”